Back to Main

FACTS

Who can benefit from Occupational Therapy?

ANYONE. Individuals with:

• Spinal cord injury
• Mental illness
• Head injury
• Parkinson's
• Arthritis
• Depression
• Foot pain
• Substance abuse
• Cumulative trauma injuries
• Injuries from motor vehicle accidents
• Work related injury
• Burns
• Cerebral palsy
• Learning difficulties
• Emotional problems
• Spina bifida
• Stroke

Occupational Therapists work with individuals and communities to promote health by:

• Adjusting work areas to reduce injuries
• Planning accessible home/work/school renovations
• Providing caregiver education
• Teaching communication skills

Occupational Therapists have expertise in:

• Wheelchair prescriptions
• Home safety
• Accessibility design
• Bathroom safety and equipment
• Custom fabrication of Splints
• Hand Injury Rehabilitation
• Adaptive Aid Prescription
• Cognitive and Perceptual Retraining
• Energy Conservation
• Joint Protection
• Ergonomics
• Stress & Anger Management
• Social Skills
• Driving Assessment
• Work Site Analysis
• Functional Transfers (Bathtub, Car, etc)
• Assessment of fine motor skills (scissor skills, printing skills etc.)
• Activities of daily living (dressing, bathing etc.)

Examples of Occupational Therapy Services

Through occupational therapy assessment and by identifying priorities with the individual, people:

• Learn new ways to perform household chores, manage finances and grocery shop
• Return to work or find suitable new employment
• Regain the use of an injured body part
• Develop coping skills to deal with their substance abuse
• Develop leisure activities and resume community activities
• Develop skills to cope in a regular classroom

What happens when you go to Occupational Therapy?

• Occupational therapists help you identify which activities are difficult for you. Depending on what you feel is important and what you are dissatisfied with, an occupational therapists may check:

• Your physical abilities, for example, your strength, coordination and balance.
• Your mental abilities, for example, your memory, organization skills and ways of coping.
• Support available to you at your home, school, work or community.
• Physical set-up of your house, school, classroom, workplace or community.
• Specific activities you want to do to improve your abilities.

Occupational Therapy can help prevent:

• Unnecessary hospital stays or premature nursing home admissions.
• Work injuries due to to poor work station positioning, unrealistic pacing and other organizational and psychosocial strains.
• School dropouts due to poor attention spans, or reading and writing difficulties.
• Unemployment among people with a developmental disability or people with mental illness.